MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. A technical emergency at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant under the Fukushima scenario is possible, the director of the autonomous non-commercial organization Atominfo-Center, editor-in-chief of the Atominfo.fu portal, Alexander Uvarov, told TASS.
"A Fukushima-type accident involving a zirconium-steam reaction at the ZNPP is possible. In both cases, there is water and there is zirconium, the material of which the fuel rods’ shells are made," he said.
The accident at Japan’s Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant began on March 11, 2011 after the strongest earthquake in the history of Japan and the ensuing tsunami. The reactors and spent fuel pools remained without external and internal power supply and were gradually losing cooling water. As a result of the zirconium-steam reaction hydrogen began to accumulate inside the power plant’s buildings. Explosions followed resulting in the release of radiation and its fallout at a considerable distance from the NPP.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, located in Energodar, is under the control of Russian troops. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have carried out several attacks on its premises, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. In most cases, attacks were repelled by air defense systems, but some shells hit infrastructure and the area of the nuclear waste storage.